Google Releases YouTube TV Streaming Service In 5 US Cities

Long Story Short

Google launched its YouTube live TV streaming service with more than 40 channels including sports and news. But, it's still not worth cutting your cable service for.

Long Story

Sorry Google fans, but YouTube hasn't swooped in and made the streaming subscription to end all cable subscriptions. Allow me to explain.

But first, the details. Google revealed its highly-anticipated streaming service YouTube TV, which will allow you to watch live sports, news and shows from your phone, tablet, computer or on your TV via Chromecast. It will come with 40 channels including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, including their local networks, as well as AMC (Breaking Bad and Mad Men FTW). And it'll have live sports via FOX as well as ESPN and local sports as well as news.

A cool feature with YouTube TV is its cloud-based DVR service, which stores the shows and movies you want to watch later in the cloud (with a storage limit).

Unlike the YouTube we know and love, YouTube TV is a monthly subscription service costing $35/month. However, it's free for 30 days while you try it out and if you do stick around after the first month, you'll get a free Chromecast (while supplies last).

Anyone who has used Netflix, HBO Go or any of the major streaming services knows that the main drawback is the fact that they don't show those must-watch cultural events like the NCAA National Championship or the Oscars. In theory, YouTube TV should fix that, except that it doesn't. At least not yet.

At $35 per month, the service is indeed cheaper than many cable packages, but that's cause it has way less channels and it's missing some key networks. No MTV, HGTV, CNN, Comedy Central or TNT.

If you look over at the competition, yes, there are already live TV streaming services including Sling TV, Playstation Vue and DirectTV Now, you can get a lot of those channels for a similar price.

But if they're similar in price, why not just go with trusted old Google? Because you most likely can't. While other streaming services are nationwide, YouTube TV is only available in five metropolitan areas — New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Plus, the other options will work on your Roku, Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV, but YouTube TV only works with Chromecast. At least for now.

Because of its lack of channels, unavailability in most areas and the fact that it won't play nice with your streaming devices, YouTube TV isn't something you should cut the cord for. However, those don't feel like irreparable problems as Google gains partnerships with networks and rolls out more widely. So, hold off, but one day we might all be watching YouTube TV in our Google smart homes with Google balloons floating overhead.